Darlington Dolphin Centre pool to remain shut until 2024

The main pool at Darlington's Dolphin Centre is being refurbished

A swimming pool which was meant to close for four months in January will now remain closed until next year, council officials said.

The main pool at Darlington's Dolphin Centre has been shut while contractors carry out "essential maintenance".

But Darlington Borough Council, which runs the leisure centre, said additional work had been identified.

It said carrying out the extra repairs would prevent it from needing to close shortly after it reopens.

The pool, which first opened in 1982, and has been refurbished a number of times over the years.

However, the council said "limited work" had been carried out on the main pool, meaning it needed significant refurbishment.

In January this year, it was closed to the public.

A cabinet meeting saw councillors voted in favour of delaying the reopening to January 2024.

'Valuable and much loved'

The meeting heard how the authority would have also been hit with further costs unless the extra work was carried out while the pool was already shut.

Matthew Roche, cabinet member for health and housing, said: "I am pleased that today's decision has been made and that this additional work can be undertaken in parallel with the current maintenance.

"The Dolphin Centre is a valuable and much-loved asset for all of us and we will continue to maintain and develop the centre to ensure it can be enjoyed for years to come.

"The training pool and toddler pools remain open and we thank all centre users for their patience whilst this essential work is carried out."

Members have been given the option to freeze their membership while the main pool is out of action.